As discussed here and here, on June 25, 2013, the Delaware Court of Chancery upheld the facial validity of forum selection bylaws unilaterally adopted by the boards of directors of Chevron Corporation and FedEx Corporation. In October 2013, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their appeal of that decision, thereby avoiding the possibility of the Delaware Supreme Court’s (likely) affirmation of the Honorable Chancellor Leo Strine’s decision.

Now, in a similar case in California, plaintiffs are again challenging the Chevron forum selection clause. In response, on January 31, 2014, Chevron requested that the Honorable Jon Tigar, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, certify the question regarding the validity of its forum selection bylaws to the Delaware Supreme Court. The hearing for the certification case is scheduled for March 13, 2014.